How to Spot a Hidden Volume Fee

Merchant Account Providers practice unethical billing in various ways, but some don’t stop at a hidden markup in wholesale costs or forgotten Interchange refunds on returns. Some providers go as far as increasing your processing fees for the volume you process in a given month.

How to Spot a Hidden Volume Fee

Your merchant statements break down these details so you can see the volume processed by each card type. You shouldn’t see an increase in your processing fees due to the amount of volume ran in a given month; however, some providers unfortunately add extra volume fees when you run more than expected. Here’s what it looks like on your statement:

Markup on a Portion of Volume

In this example, the provider charged the expected rate for part of the processing volume at 1.65%, but it also charged an increased rate of 1% for a portion of the volume that exceeded expectations.

Markup on the Entire Volume

In this example, the provider added an additional markup on the entire processing volume because it surpassed the total anticipated.

All providers set limits on processing volumes for your protection as well as their own, but unethical providers may use your processing limit against you. The description "other volume fees" is intentionally vague to keep you guessing.

If you're getting hit with hidden volume fees, it's most likely over the entire volume, which is less noticeable on statements and in your bank account.

Remove a Hidden Volume Fee From Your Statements

Don’t let the complexity of merchant statements keep money out of your pocket. Do your due diligence when choosing a provider and carefully read through the fine print of merchant agreements to ensure you won’t be penalized for processing over your limit. If you think your current provider is charging you hidden volume fees, get a professional analysis of your merchant statements to weed out any unethical billing.

Uncover hidden markups on volume fees.

Have you seen a volume markup percentage listed on your merchant statements? What were the charges for? Post in the comments section below; we’d love to hear from you.